The people in charge turn a blind eye in front of the children’s labor. The schools, social work centers, the Ministry for education and the Ombudsman’s office are letting them work because of the poverty of the pupils families. The empty stomach and the poverty are forcing these socially endangered families from Strumica and Stip with their children to work in the vineyards and the authorized institutions because of those reasons are letting them to stay out of schools. It is impossible to survive with the 2000 denars social assistance which they are receiving and this is forcing their parents not to oblige the law to send their children to schools and are risking loosing the settlement from the state. The elementary schools, the social centers, the Ministry for education and the Ombudsman’s office are turning a blind eye on them. Part of them are not familiarized with these cases, but they are raising their shoulders in front of the question which is a solution for the problem. But they are admitting that they do not want to take any rigorous measures although the laws are strict and there is a penalty for this like going to prison, as well as taking away their children. Pointers to the parents that they must not abuse the labor of their children, advices that they must send them to school, preparation of a strategy from the state are the measures that the institutions propose. In the elementary school “Marsal Tito” in Strumica, where the thirteen year old K. V. is going, who for the last three weeks instead of being in school is cutting grapes on the plantations in Kavadarci, know that he is not visiting classes. From there say that they let K.V. leave on the fields on request from his parents. They are registering his absence. But they do not know how he will justify his absence or whether he will go back to school after a month of absence.

We pointed out to the parents that what they are doing is illegal and that they might be punished, but they did not listen. We can not suggest anything to the children because hey are doing what their parents tell them. Because they are absent for so long we do not know whether we are going to allow them to back to classes. We must convey the schools board and to notify the educational inspector – say in the elementary school from Strumica.

In the Center for social works in Strumica say that they know about the social users who go to work in other towns for season works but they admit that they are turning the blind eye on them because “they do not want to leave the social users without any money”.

We are willingly letting them to earn some extra money. What are we suppose to do? To cancel the 2000 denars assistance from which a four member family survives? We are performing a check up on the social users these days. First of all we are looking for them to confirm that they are still on our pay roll. If we can not find them we leave them a message to come the following day in the Center. In that way we are giving them time not to miss the opportunity for assistance -says Zoran Manev, the director of the Center.

In the Ombudsman’s office in Skopje say that they are opening a procedure for these kind of cases for abuse of the child labor. But they say that they are not going to require high sanctions for the parents.

We do not have anything to say yet because this occurrence is about to be examined. These kinds of cases are rare here. We will suggest advisory measures to raise the awareness of the parents – they say.

From the Ministry of education say that the elementary schools need to deal with these situations.

The state must find funds with which to the children of the social endangered families will provide free school books and to award additional social assistance. With that money they can provide food and clothing for the winter period. This is not something new in the foreign countries, we could just use their experience – consider in the non governmental organization “National Roma Centrum” from Kumanovo.

Published in daily newspaper dnevnik by Ljubica Grozdanovska on 29 September 2006